See Me Through
by ncisabbylover
Summary: Based on the promo and sneak peeks for Field of Fire, this pre-ep two-shot follows Deeks as he mentors Chad, with plenty of reassurance from Kensi. Slightly AU to what actually ended up happening in the episode.
1. Chapter 1

Kensi lay half on top of him in her bed, her head pillowed comfortably on his chest while the fingers of her left hand reached up to toy with his too-long hair.

"You okay?" Deeks asked, running his hand up and down her spine in a soothing rhythm.

It had been yet another hard case, for Kensi especially. It had drudged up the past in all the worst ways for his girlfriend. He knew deception was hard on her and he knew it must've been even harder when the people she was deceiving were American Marines, like her father, who had come back less than they'd been when they left. The men and women she was around in the centre, the men and women she had fooled, were heroes she respected. They were people like Jack, who'd returned to her only to hit the ground and leave.

Then there was the fact that Kensi's undercover character hit closer to home than either of them wanted to admit. When Hetty had briefed them on their roles in the operation Kensi had stubbornly ignored Deeks' concerned gaze. They were halfway through the case though, when she had sought him out. The pair had slipped into a storage closet for a too-brief five minutes as she took refuge from the thoughts plaguing her mind in his arms. Very few words were exchanged between them during her short reprieve but Deeks knew what was going through her mind. She'd pulled back, wiped her tears and whispered a soft thanks as she'd pressed her lips to his cheek before silently slipping back into character and out the door.

Added to the emotional roller coster of their undercover jaunt was the fact she'd put a Marine in her crosshairs, literally, and was told to take the shot. She'd admitted to him in the car on the way back to the mission that it had put her right back in Afghanistan, peering through the scope only to see her ex-fiancée whom she had assumed dead. Come to think of it, to say it had been a hard case was a gross understatement.

"Kens?" He pulled her out of her thoughts.

"Hmm?"

"You okay?" He repeated.

"Yeah. Just thinking." She mumbled in response, hugging him tighter.

"Are you sure? Anything I can do?" He offered, his hand still drawing senseless patterns on her back.

"You're doing it." She assured him. Silence fell back over them for a few minutes as Kensi continued to card her hands through his locks and Deeks continued to rub her back.

"Are you still going to mentor Chad?" Kensi queried, breaking the heavy stillness in the room.

"I was thinking about it. What do you think?"

"I think if you want to, you should go for it. You seem to have a lot in common with him. It'll be good for you." She looped her leg around his as she said it, further entwining their bodies.

Deeks silently contemplated her words for a moment.

"What?" She pushed, tugging gently at his hair to bring him back to her.

"Would I be good for him though?" His hand paused it's journey on her back.

"Of course you would be."

"It's not like I had the best male role-models in my life Kens. I don't really know what one looks like." He confessed quietly.

Kensi moved her hand from his hair down to his chest and pushed herself up to look at his face.

"Deeks," She waited until his eyes opened and he looked at her. "You want to know what a good male role-model looks like? Go find a mirror. You're a good man Marty. You're going to be a fantastic mentor. Any kid would be lucky to spend time with you. And one day," She paused. They'd talked about kids in general terms throughout their partnership but they'd yet to really discuss them within the context of their current relationship. She drew in a breath. "One day you're going to make a great father to our children."

She leaned down and kissed his lips soundly.

"I'm proud of who you are." She murmured as she lay back down at his side, cuddling closely.

"I'll call them tomorrow." He decided. Straining his neck forward, he kissed her hairline. "Thanks Kens."

She squeezed him in response before loosening her hold slightly and relaxing into sleep. He followed soon after.

* * *

The next weekend Deeks pulled his truck up outside the address the mentoring program coordinators had given him. The place was well worn and children's toys were scattered around the front yard. Deeks climbed out of the car and shook off his nerves as he approached the front door.

He knocked and could hear a small commotion inside, the patter of running feet, a voice instructing the owner of said feet to slow down, and then the clanging of something falling over.

The door opened and Deeks was face to face with a tired looking woman.

"Hi. I, ah, I'm Marty Deeks. I'm part of the mentoring program." He introduced himself.

"Oh, that's great. You're here for Chad, right?"

Deeks nodded and the woman turned and yelled the teen's name up the stairs.

"He'll be down in a minute. I'm Darcy by the way." She introduced, extending her hand. Deeks shook it. "Come take a seat."

Darcy moved back into the dining room where she was feeding a messy toddler in a highchair. Two minutes later Chad stood in front of Deeks.

"Hey, you must be Chad. I'm Marty." Deeks stood to his feet, his nervous hands deep in his pockets.

"Hi." The young man replied, obviously sizing Deeks up.

After a moment of assessing silence, Deeks rocked back on his heels.

"So, I was thinking we could go surfing. There's supposed to be decent swell today."

"I don't have a board anymore." Chad sounded pretty disappointed by the fact.

"That's fine. You can use one of mine. We'll just have to stop by my apartment and pick them up."

Deeks felt a small swell of pride and accomplishment as Chad seemed to perk up at the suggestion, an almost smile gracing the corners of his mouth.

"Okay. Let me grab my stuff." Chad jogged back upstairs and returned again quickly. He told Darcy where he was going and bid her farewell and the pair drove in slightly awkward silence to Deeks' apartment.

"If you were planning on taking me surfing, why didn't you just bring the boards with you?" Chad finally asked, breaking the invisible barrier between them.

"I was at my girlfriend's last night." Deeks explained as Chad followed him from the parking lot to his apartment.

"You have a girlfriend?" He sounded incredulous.

"Is that so hard to believe?" Deeks countered as they approached the door and he slid the key into the lock.

"No. I mean, not really." Chad followed Deeks as the detective got the door open. "Just, why would you spend your weekend dragging a kid like me around Los Angeles when you could spend it with your girlfriend?"

"Fair question." Deeks moved down the hall to grab the boards while Chad hung about int the living room, looking Deeks' DVD collection.

Deeks returned a few seconds later, two boards under his arms. "I see her pretty much everyday. We work together. Besides, I know what it's like to grow up in a foster home." Deeks stood the boards up against the couch.

Chad held a frame from a nearby shelf in his hands. He bristled slightly as Deeks mentioned foster homes but otherwise ignored that line of conversation.

"Is this your girlfriend?" He asked, holding the frame towards Deeks. It held a picture of him and Kensi during their Mammoth Mountain vacation.

"That's her."

"She's hot." Chad deadpanned.

Deeks chuckled lightly. "Yeah, yeah she is." He agreed.

"What's her name?"

"Kensi."

Chad nodded and returned the picture to the shelf, moving towards the boards.

"Which one's mine?"

"The green one. Wanna grab it and we'll walk down. The beach is only three blocks away." Deeks suggested, grabbing his own blue board and leading the way out of the apartment.

Chad's personality truly came to light as he and Deeks took turns riding the waves. As they waited for decent swells the teen began to open up, if only slightly, talking about school and his hobbies while Deeks corralled him with a few of the more tame stories of his early LAPD days. By the time they were driving back to Chad's home the conversation was flowing easily between the pair, their personalities complementing each other well.

"Thanks for today Marty." Chad smiled genuinely as Deeks pulled the truck up outside the foster home.

"Not a problem man." Deeks offered his hand to Chad who shook it with a firm grip. "Wanna go again next weekend?"

"Okay, sure." Chad grinned.

"Here," Deeks pulled his card out and handed it to the teen. "I'll see you next weekend."

"Thanks. See ya Marty." He waved briefly after he got out the car before jogging up the path and into the house.

* * *

"Hey." Kensi greeted Deeks from where she was curled on the couch as he let himself into her apartment later that afternoon.

"Hey." Deeks replied in kind. He made his way into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge before returning to the living room and joining his girlfriend on the couch.

He sat on the opposite end to her. Kensi abandoned the book she had been reading on the coffee table and slid down next to him, bumping his shoulder with her own.

"How'd it go with Chad?" She asked.

Deeks took another mouthful of his drink before answering.

"Really well I think. He's a pretty cool kid. We went surfing."

"Of course you did." Kensi chuckled, turning her face to press a kiss to his jaw. "What's he like?"

"Ah, he's smart but a typical teenage boy. Likes to make trouble I think, he's into surfing and skating."

"So he really is like a teen version of you." Kensi grinned.

"I suppose. We're going surfing again next week."

"That's great."

"Yeah." Deeks agreed before falling silent again, picking at the label on his water bottle. Kensi sat quietly next to him, waiting him out.

"We talked about surfing and school and I told him a few of my good LAPD sorries."

"Stealing a pink bike with tasseled handles from an eight-year-old girl to chase down a perp?" She interrupted.

"Yes, among others. And I didn't steal that bike, for the record, I borrowed it. I returned it to her." He defended himself good-naturedly before turning serious again. "We talked and the conversation was good but…" He trailed off, searching for words.

"But…" Kensi encouraged a few moments later.

"But I didn't really get to help him I don't think, not in a practical way. I know what it's like to live in a foster home. I know that feeling of worthlessness and the feeling that you're not going to amount to anything because of something as stupid as circumstances beyond your control. I just want to help him, show him what he could be but it didn't really come up and I didn't want to push." Deeks sighed.

Kensi lifted his arm so it fell around her shoulders and leaned into him. "You and I know better than anyone that, at that age, in that kind of life, you don't really trust anyone. Kids don't take on board that kind of advice when it's pushed upon them, especially by people they hardly know. Give him some time Deeks. Be a friend. That's what he needs. Show him what he can be by modelling it for him. Eventually, if he needs you he'll come to you and ask. You're going to help him so much more if he comes to you. Just show him that he can. And even if he never does approach you for help or advice, he'll still have learnt a lot form you."

Deeks brought the hand not wrapped around her shoulders to her face, gently stroking her cheek before leaning down and kissing her deeply, thanking her for her encouragement and faith in him. It wasn't long before she was straddling his lap and then he was carrying her to the bedroom.

* * *

**A/N: ****Hey! Firstly, for those of you waiting on Many the Miles, I've marked it as complete. For further explanation as they why you can check out the last chapter of the fic, my fanfiction profile, or my tumblr. **

**Secondly, I've taken a bit of artistic license in this fic in terms of what the mentoring service would allow so please forgive me that.**

**Finally, this will be probably a two part fic. I'm hoping to have the second part up on Monday before the episode airs. **


	2. Chapter 2

Two months later Kensi entered her boyfriend's apartment after a day with her mother. Deeks had spent his Saturday morning out with Chad. They'd fallen into step with the new schedule and Kensi thought it was a good thing. They spent almost every minute of everyday together at work and most nights they were in each other's beds. Their constant presence in each other's day to day lives was something they'd been a bit concerned about. Now, however, Deeks was spending at least one day of the weekend with Chad. It gave Kensi time to miss him and it gave them both some space to decompress.

When she didn't find him in the living room or kitchen she moved towards the bedroom at the back of the apartment. She found him there, passed out, shirtless, in the middle of his bed. Coming around to his side of the mattress, Kensi sat at his hip.

"Deeks." She called. He grunted something unintelligible and turned his face in her direction, eyes still closed. She lay her hand on his back, running her fingers up his spine until she ticked the back of his neck, making him squirm.

"Evil." He muttered, rolling away from her fiendish hand and blinking bleary eyes open.

She grinned at him and moved to rest her hand on his chest but he caught her fingers in his own before she made contact.

"You're getting old Deeks. A morning of surfing tires you out so much you need a nap now?" She teased.

"Haha." He stated rather than laughed. "If I remember correctly, you were the one who kept me up half the night and you weren't complaining about my age then." Deeks countered, pushing himself up to sit against the headboard.

"Mmm, touché." She conceded, leaning forward to kiss him. "How was your morning with Chad?"

"It was… good. I think."

"You think?"

"Yeah. I mean, the surf was great and Chad's a great kid." He reported.

"So you've told me." She squeezed his hand, assessing the way his brow was knitted in concern momentarily. "Come on," She stood and tugged at his arm. "You can tell me what's bothering you while you cook me dinner."

"Oh, I can, can I? What if I said I wanted to order pizza for dinner?" He protested, following her lead and standing up anyway.

"Nope. Not tonight. I want chicken stir-fry and I want to sit on the countertop and watch my boyfriend make it while he pretends not to see me steal the vegetables he's chopping." She asserted.

Deeks pretended to weigh his options while he found an old T-shirt to tug over his head.

"Okay. I suppose." He folded, quickening his step to catch up with his girlfriend who was already making her way to the kitchen. He managed to wrap an arm around her waist from behind just as Kensi was at the end of the hall. He pulled her back to him and nuzzled her cheek.

"I must really like you." He murmured into her ear. She turned to face him, wrapping her own arms around his neck.

"Good. I really like you too." She pushed up on her toes and fused her mouth to his. He was just about to lead her back to the bedroom when she pulled away. "But I really _really_ like you when you feed me." She grinned while Deeks groaned.

"You said stir-fry?" He asked refusing to let her go just yet.

"Yup." She popped the 'p'.

"Okay." He sighed, pretending to be exasperated, but his grin betrayed him as he reluctantly released her.

True to her word, Kensi sat atop the counter while her boyfriend moved around the kitchen.

"How's Julia?"

"She's good. I'm starting to regret telling her about us so early on." She leant over and stole a slice of carrot.

"And why's that?"

"Because, if I had held off telling her she might've held off dropping the heavy handed hints for a few more months." She sighed.

Deeks chuckled. He'd been on the receiving end of some of those hints the last time they'd had dinner with the Feldmans. Kensi most definitely got some of her bull-headedness from her mother.

"Your turn. Tell me what went on with Chad today." She requested, reaching out her leg to nudge his thigh with her toe.

"Nothing was really unusual. We grabbed the boards and went down to the beach." He placed the chicken breast into the pan to brown. "It just felt kind of off."

"Off like he wasn't feeling well?"

"No. I don't really know. Just, he wasn't himself. Of course he brushed me off when I asked." Deeks started adding vegetables to the pan.

"He'll get there Deeks. You've put in the time and effort. You're part of this kid's life and that's amazing. If he really needs you he knows he can come to you."

"Yeah. You're probably right."

"I usually am." Kensi winked at him as he turned back to the pan on the stove. She jumped down from the counter so she could wrap her arms around him as he stirred their dinner. She pressed a longer than necessary kiss to his cheek and hugged him tight. He reached one arm back to awkwardly wrap around her. "And when he does come to you, you'll do great."

* * *

Wednesday morning found the team doing Tuesday's paperwork when Deeks' cell rang. Kensi watched as he checked the ID before excusing himself to take the call.

"What's that about?" Callen turned to face Kensi.

"What?"

"Your partner. He seemed pretty concerned by the number on that call. Any idea who it is?" Callen pushed.

Kensi shrugged.

"Not a clue." She made a point of refocussing on her paperwork, ignoring the probing looks from her teammates.

Deeks returned to the open plan workspace ten minutes later. His hair was more disshelved than usual from running his fingers through it and when he made it to his desk he began to pack up his belongings.

Kensi was on her feet and behind his desk a moment later.

"What's up?" She questioned quietly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"That was Chad. He, ah, he and his friends skipped school and did something stupid. LAPD took them in. I've got to go sort this out." He murmured just loud enough for her to hear but low enough that Callen and Sam couldn't. He was worried and frazzled and Kensi wished she could hug him.

"Do you want me to come with you?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

"No, I've got it." He slung his bag over his shoulder and moved to walk away. Kensi caught his wrist as he passed.

"Call if you need anything." He nodded. "See you tonight?" She squeezed his wrist in a subtle show of support.

"Yeah, of course." He replied. She squeezed his arm once more and let him go.

* * *

Deeks arrived at the station and spoke to the arresting officer before using his badge to head down to the holding cells. Chad sat on the edge of the cell bench, a boy about his age sitting on the either side of him.

"What's going on Chad?" Deeks questioned, standing outside the cell, his arms folded authoritatively over his chest. He honestly had no idea how he was supposed to handle this situation. According to the arresting officer Chad hadn't actually participated in vandalising the building, he hadn't even had a can of paint. He had, however, skipped school to watch his friends spray boobs and dicks onto the back wall of a corporate office.

"Marty? I thought you'd just, I don't know, call my foster parents or child services." The boy refused to meet the detective's eye.

Oh, Deeks was most definitely out of his depth. He probably should've called Darcy. Technically he had no legal say over Chad.

He took a deep breath and relaxed his posture, burying his hands in his front pockets causally.

"You called me Chad, not your foster family. So, here I am. You gonna tell me what happened?"

Deeks watched as Chad nervously glanced at the two boys nest to him. Realising he probably wasn't going to get a straight answer out of the teen while he was still in front of his peers Deeks sighed and motioned to the guard to unlock the cell.

"You're springing me?"

"Don't get any big ideas. We're going to go have a chat. You'll still technically be in LAPD custody. We'll see how things go." Deeks waited as Chad stood and slowly made his way out of the cell. "Have you boys got people coming for you too?" Deeks turned his attention to the pair of culprits still sitting on the bench. The boys nodded shamefully as the guard closed the gate again.

"Their parents are on the way. From the sounds of it, they're not too impressed about having to take off work to pick these two up." The guard told Deeks.

He nodded.

"Come on, let's go Chad." Deeks instructed, leading the guilt-ridden teen out of holding and up towards the precinct interview room.

The pair walked in silence, Deeks trying to figure out how to play the line between friend and mentor while Chad simply didn't know what to say. In the interview room Deeks motioned to the couch and Chad sat. Deeks took a seat in the armchair across from him.

"So," The detective prompted, still mentally trying to gauge how this conversation was going to go.

"I'm sorry to put you out." Chad apologised, staring astutely at his feet.

Deeks let out an audible sigh. His shoulders deflated a little and he looked at Chad from under concern-furrowed brows.

"Chad, I just want you to tell me what happened. You told me on Sunday that school was going well."

"It was. It is."

"Then why are we here?"

Chad shrugged but stayed quiet.

"Look, if you want I can call Darcy down here and she can bail you out, deal with all of this. Or you could talk to me and we can see what we can do about getting the charges dropped. Not many people in your position have that option Chad. Your two buddies down there sure don't."

"What does it matter?" Chad muttered under his breath, just loud enough for Deeks to hear.

"I don't know Chad. What does it matter?" Deeks challenged.

"It doesn't. My life was screwed beforeI was even old enough to have a choice in the matter. Why bother?" Chad lashed out.

"Don't give me the 'I don't care' bullshit. I know you care."

"But caring doesn't mean anything Marty." Chad stood abruptly and threw his hands up in the air.

Deeks watched as he paced the length of the couch three times before calming himself and sitting again.

"You need to make a choice Chad." He said solemnly.

"What, like swear to never do it again or you won't bail me out?" The teen rolled his eyes.

"No. This isn't an ultimatum but you need to decide what kind of man you want to be. Are you going to be like your father? Or do you want to be like my dad? A drunk who came home and beat his wife and son?" At that suggestion Chad's eyes widened in shock and outrage. "Okay then. What can of man_ do_ you want to be then cause right now that's where you're heading with your 'I don't give a shit' attitude."

Chad's eyes studied the floor. He was silent for so long that when he mumbled his reply Deeks almost missed it completely.

"Sorry?" Deeks asked him to repeat.

"You. I want to be like you okay?" Chad finally said, looking Deeks right in the eye.

"Okay." Deeks breathed out, slightly taken aback. "It's going to take a lot of hard work. Are you ready to live like that? To work for everything you have?"

"Yes." Chad replied.

"Then, I'll see you through it. But no more skipping school. You're too smart for the kind of crap those guys are into. And if you pull crap like this again I'll kick your ass." Deeks smiled at him slightly. It earned him a grin from the teen who was nodding in agreement with the detective's words.

"Okay then, let's bust you outta here."

While Chad waited in the interview room Deeks made his way out to sort his release, checking his phone as he walked down the stairs. He had two missed calls and six messages, all from Kensi. The first few messages were updating him on the open and shut case they had picked up. The last one simply read _'Text me when you can. Xx K.'_

He typed out a quick reply before making his way towards the precinct bullpen.

* * *

Two hours later he spotted her silhouette from the car park as she sat alone in the damp sand.

She turned her head as he approached, throwing a smile over her shoulder in greeting before directing her gaze back to the ocean. He sat directly behind her, his legs framing her body and she leaned back into his chest. When he wrapped his arms snuggly around her waist she sighed happily.

"Everything okay with Chad?" She asked after a few minutes of companionable silence.

His chin nudged her shoulder as he nodded and when he spoke his lips were practically touching the shell of her ear.

"I think so. He just made a few stupid choices today."

"Were you able to get the charges dropped? Get him back on track?"

"Yeah, the charges got dropped. As for getting him back on track— He said he wanted to be like me." He murmured uncertainly.

Kensi brought her hands to his, hugging his arms tighter to her body.

"That sounds like a pretty good life decision to me." She turned her head so she could meet his lips with her own.

"Maybe." Deeks' self-doubt clouded his single word response. He knew all the mistakes and wrong paths he'd taken to get where he was today.

"From where I'm sitting," She squeezed his arms and leant further into him to emphasise her point, "Marty Deeks is a pretty great person to try to be like."

* * *

**A/N: **Don't ask me what this is cause I really don't know... I've had it sitting in my note book since sometime last week but I'm been traveling and doing the tourist thing a lot lately and walking something like 6-10 miles a day everyday for the past 2 weeks so when I get home I haven't been bothered to actually type anything up.

Thanks for everyone who reviewed the first part.

I have another one-shot that I finished today that I need to edit that's a filler between 6x23 and 6x24 that I'll post tonight or tomorrow sometime. I just need to edit and do a little research to fix a few things in there. It's pretty much gratuitous Densi fluff so be on the look out.


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